Rwanda

2010

New York, April 13, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s decision by Rwanda’s
Media
High Council to suspend two independent weeklies just months prior to
presidential elections. At a press conference, attended only by state
broadcasters and the pro-government radio station Contact FM, the Media High
Council announced an immediate six month suspension of private vernacular
weeklies, Umuseso and Umuvugizi.

Tags:

Journalists
in Kigali are on tenterhooks after President
Paul Kagame, left, made new accusations of their supposed involvement in a bomb attack
in Rwanda.
Just months before Rwanda’s presidential
elections, Kigali
was recently hit by two grenade
attacks that killed two people and injured 30 others, according to news reports.

Tags:

New York, February 23, 2010—Three journalists were sentenced to prison on Monday in Rwanda over a story reporting on an extramarital affair between the mayor of the capital, Kigali, and a government minister, according to local journalists and news reports.

High numbers of local journalists have fled several African countries in recent years after being assaulted, threatened, or imprisoned, leaving a deep void in professional reporting. The starkest examples are in the Horn of Africa nations of Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, where dozens of journalists have been forced into exile. Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and the Gambia have also lost large segments of the local press corps in the face of intimidation and violence.